Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Worth Drafting in Fantasy Football?
The NFL preseason is underway, essentially triggering the start of fantasy football season, sending fans into a frenzy as they debate whether or not Philadelphia Eagles Jalen Hurts can remain elite after his 2022 breakout.
Last year Hurts burst onto the scene in both real life and fantasy football thanks to his ability as both a passer and elite rushing threat [101.5 passer rating, 4th; 13 rushing TDs, 2nd]. He finished with the highest per-game scoring average of any player in fantasy last season, but injuries prevented him from being the overall season leader in points scored.
Now people expect him to ascend again and finish as the top scorer for their fantasy team, but is that realistic?
His current ADP [Average Draft Position] is after Patrick Mahomes and Allen in the third round, but that seems a bit steep. Many aren’t acknowledging that renowned offensive coordinator Shane Steichen left the Eagles in the off-season and became the head coach for the Indianapolis Colts.
This may lead to some slight regression from Hurts, similar to how Josh Allen was still a top-three fantasy quarterback last year but failed to remain the top scorer for the first time in two seasons after his offensive coordinator Brian Daboll left to become head coach of the New York Giants and resurrected Daniel Jones career. Offensive coordinators matter.
In 2022, Hurts completed 66.5 percent of his passes for 3,701 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. While also rushed 165 times for 760 yards with 13 touchdowns.
Now that he’s going into 2023 with all the same weapons around him, I could see him taking another step forward as a passer and crossing the 4,000 yards passing threshold. What’s questionable is whether he can run for 13 rushing touchdowns again because that inflated his fantasy finish.
With players like Allen and Mahomes having histories as proven elite fantasy quarterback options, I would say that Hurts is relatively safe to finish in the top five this season but that other mobile quarterbacks such as Justin Fields [D.J. Moore] on the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens former MVP Lamar Jackson [Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers] could make it difficult for Hurts to remain in the top three scorers since all of them improved their passing options [as the Eagles did for Hurts last year].
Seeing how Hurts and the rest of Philly’s offense perform without quarterback whisperer Steichen in his headset could be telling about how much the Eagles’ franchise quarterback has developed as a passer since his days when he was an incredibly raw athlete at Alabama. Still, managers should feel safe waiting to draft him around the fourth round of fantasy drafts.
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